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Hockanum Day 2022
October 2, 2022 @ 11:00 am - 3:00 pm
Free
The Hockanum Rural Historic District, added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993, is a rural community encompassing a classically famous landscape along the Connecticut River in Hadley, Massachusetts. The fertile farmland and quiet village is home to families that have been here for generations.
On Hockanum Day, meet, discuss, and learn about the deep history and heritage that is preserved and lives on in this beautiful corner of the world.
Hockanum Village School House
Visit the historic Hockanum Village School House and consider what it was like to go to school with grades K through 6th in a one room school.
Best address: 147 Hockanum Road, Hadley, MA
Best time to go: open to the public noon through 3pm, special presentations at noon and 2pm
Price: Free
Barstow’s Longview Farm
Visit a working, innovative dairy farm that has been in the Barstow family for seven generations. Walking farm tours take you through dairy barns, to the anaerobic digester, and visits a robotic milkers.
Best address: 172 Hockanum Road, Hadley, MA
Best time to go: walking farm tours leave the farm store at 11am and 1pm
Price: Free
J.A. Skinner State Park
Learn about the evolution of the historic Summit House over the years, ranging from a pair of “dueling saloons,” to a small inn, to a grand hotel, to what it is today.
Best address: 10 Skinner State Park Road, Hadley, MA
Best time to go: the auto road is open between 9am and 6pm with tours of the Summit House at 11am and 2pm.
Price: Entry to the park via vehicle is $5 for MA plates, $20 out of state.Parking is limited. Free to hike!
More about the presentations
Farm Tours of Barstow’s Longview Farm | 11am and 1pm
Join seventh generation family member, Denise Barstow Manz, as we travel around her family’s 216 year old dairy farm. First stop is the Anaerobic Digester, a system that takes the energy potential out of cow manure and food waste and turns it into a chemical free fertilizer, heat, and enough green electricity to power 1,600 homes. The tour will also visit a bunker silo where animal forage from 450 acres is stored. See the farm’s robotic milking system and learn how it contributes to a healthy herd, happy cows, increased milk quality, and a more efficient business. Finally see the youngest generation in our family at the calf barn. Tour takes approximately 45 minutes, is just under 1/4 mile, involves hills, an uneven terrain. Free and family friendly! Join us for lunch afterwards or before at Barstow’s Dairy Store and Bakery.
Tour the Summit House | 11am
Take a tour of the historic Summit House and learn about its history with an interpretive ranger.
Village School House History Presentation | noon
Learn about the Hockanum Village School House with Hockanum Village historian and local, Mary Thayer. The School House is free and open to the public noon-3pm.
Hockanum History Highlights | 2pm
Learn about the rural community of Hockanum with Hockanum Village historian and local, Mary Thayer. The School House is free and open to the public noon-3pm.
Tour the Summit House | 2pm
Take a tour of the historic Summit House and learn about its history with an interpretive ranger.
Barstow’s Dairy Store and Bakery and Barstow’s Longview Farm is owned and operated by sixth and seventh generation Barstow’s. Nestled at the base of Skinner State Park and right alongside the Connecticut River, the dairy farm has been a part of the landscape since 1806.
Barstow’s Dairy Store and Bakery offers homemade baked goods and pies, lunch from local ingredients, farm fresh produce, farm raised beef, ice cream, and scenic views of protected farmland from the porch and dining room. This family friendly store is open daily year round. Come meet your neighborhood dairy farmer!